(February 11.2012) “The right to work abroad in complete safety is a fundamental
right for every human being. The state has a responsibility to protect its migrant
citizens, before and after their departure,” said Ramanie Jayathilaka, a lecturer
at the University of Colombo, who spoke at a recent conference on “Social Welfare
of Migrant Workers and their families” organised by Caritas Sri Lanka-Sedec. About
23 per cent of Sri Lanka’s labour force is working abroad. Members of local NGOs and
some 50 students from the National Institute of Social Development attended the seminar.
Sedec highlighted the positive aspect of this phenomenon, namely high earnings as
also the negative aspect, namely the weakening of family ties. . In 2010, migrant
workers had contributed 279.4 billion Sri Lankan rupees equivalent to US$ 2.41 billion
to the national economy.